Rutgers 45 UCF 24 in St. Pete Bowl: Should Keep Fla. Pipeline Flowing

You've heard the saying, "The game was a lot closer than the score indicated?"  Just the opposite last night for Rutgers.  The Scarlet Knights beat the UCF Knights 45-24 in the second annual St. Petersburg Bowl, but the score was a lot closer than the game indicated.

With 1:38 left in the first half, UCF had the ball trailing 21-17.  Billy Anderson, playing defense back in place of injured Jason McCorty, picked off UCF's Brett Hodges and took it 19 yards for a Rutgers touchdown.  From this point on, it was all Rutgers, all the time.

The Scarlet Knights took the ball, on the opening drive of the second half, and scored when Tom Savage hit Mohamed Sanu on an 11 yard curl-in pattern.  That made the score 35-17.  Rutgers dominated the rest of the second half, just allowing UCF to score a late touchdown with 2:23 left in the game.  Final Score: RU 45 UCF24.

It looked like Rutgers was going to take charge early in the game when Sanu dropped a punt which UCF recovered on Rutgers' 11 yard line.  Hodges hit Kamar Aiken for a 7 yard touchdown pass, tying the game at 7-7.  That was about the only error Rutgers made all night.

The Scarlet Knights showed off a balanced attack and Mohamed Sanu, the freshman sensation, made up for the fumbled punt by scoring three touchdowns touchdowns on the night.

The defense really turned it up in the second half.  Hodges was pressured on every pass play and when he wasn't getting sacked, he was running away from the Rutgers blitz.  He took a viscous hit, with two minutes left in the game, and had to leave the field. 

It's no secret that Florida has always been part of the "State of Rutgers."  In the early days of the Schiano era, it wasn't unusual to recruit 10-12 Floridians each year.  Today, the school relies more on local talent, but Florida is still one area they consider vital for recruiting.

The game got lots of attention in Florida because UCF, the largest school in the state, was hoping to make a good showing and possibly get consideration as a leading candidate for Big East expansion.

Any prospect watching in person, or on television had to be impressed with the wide open offense and the blitzing defense Rutgers displayed.  The Scarlet Knights defense seemed to enjoy every minute of it and when Damaso Munoz took a failed on-side kick, and closed out the scoring with a touchdown, he did a flip as he crossed the goal line.

Rutgers has always promoted itself well in Florida with billboards, the "Inside Rutgers Football" show, and trips to play South Florida.  Next year they will visit the Sunshine State twice.  Along with playing USF, they make their first trip to Miami to play FIU.

There was only one close moment for Rutgers last night.  It came when ESPN's "New Mexico Bowl" went into ovetime, and the first couple of minutes of the Rutgers game were unavailable on ESPN.